Comment Re:Question (Score 1) 174
They could turn around and come back. The question is what will they come back to? Is earth still habitable? If it is, are "earthlings" willing to share the planet with an 800 year old space faring civilization that probably looks nothing like earth civilizations anymore?
If the ship is designed to withstand the rigors of space, they might even chose to not go back, but keep going until they do find a habitable planet. Maybe they don't want to leave space anymore and will use the resources of the planet to augment their ship and build out their home.